Crushers GC Captain Bryson DeChambeau and teammate Charles Howell III battled for the individual title in LIV Golf’s first visit to Korea last year in Jack Nicklaus Golf Club in Incheon, with DeChambeau finishing with two late birdies to seal the win.
Although a different course and location this week, the two again find themselves at the top of the LIV Golf Korea leaderboard after Thursday’s first round at Asiad Country Club – only this time they have company.
DeChambeau and Howell share the first-round lead with HyFlyers GC’s Scott Vincent after they each shot a 5-under 65. Three players are tied for fourth, one shot back – Torque GC Captain Joaquin Niemann, Majesticks GC Co-Captain Ian Poulter and 4Aces GC’s Thomas Pieters. Four players are tied for seventh at 3 under – Ripper GC Captain Cameron Smith, Fireballs GC Captain Sergio Garcia, Southern Guards GC’s Charl Schwartzel and the Majesticks’ Laurie Canter.
Branden Grace is on -2 while Louis Oosthuizen and Dean Burmester are on +2.
The home favorites Korean Golf Club produced one of their best performances of the season. Younghan Song and newcomer Doyeob Mun each shot 68 to join a large group tied for 11th while the team is tied for fifth at 3 under.
DeChambeau had the solo lead for most of the round as he birdied six of his first 10 holes. But he fell back to the pack with bogeys at the 13th and 15th holes.
Howell’s round was ignited by an eagle 2 from 108 yards on the par-4 second, while Scott Vincent posted the only bogey-free round of the day.
Crushers GC won the team title last year in Korea and are on top of the team leaderboard again after shooting a cumulative 10 under. The team is playing without one of its regular members, Paul Casey, who suffered an injury and has been replaced by reserve Travis Smyth. Smyth shot a 2-over 72 while Anirban Lahiri shot a 2-under 68.
The recently rebranded OKGC is solo second at 7 under, with the HyFlyers GC and Fireballs GC tied for third at 5 under.
Article Link: Bryson tied at the top, Schwartzel in the mix